Egyptology collection

The Institute of Archaeology Library is home to the prestigious Egyptology collection known as the 'Edwards Library', established through a bequest of Amelia Edwards, the popular novelist, explorer and patron of Sir Flinders Petrie.

The collection covers all aspects of Egyptology and Coptic studies and includes a full range of Egyptological material: works on ancient Egyptian architecture, fine and applied art, religion, science and technology, epigraphy, history, language and literature (including Coptic) and papyrology. Publications and excavation reports produced by leading Egyptological institutions such as the Institut français d'archéologie orientale du Caire and the Egypt Exploration Society are also included.

Please note that many of our Egyptology books dating to the 19th and early 20th centuries are now kept in Stores, owing to their age and fragility and the need to conserve them in temperature-controlled conditions.

Egyptology books are divided into quartos and a main sequence, but also have their own classification system within the Institute Library, e.g:

Journals covering Egyptology are interfiled in a single sequence alphabetically by title with other journals shelved in the Institute of Archaeology.

A small number of Egyptology pamphlets have been retained as part of the Egyptology collections. Most pamphlets are offprints of articles and chapters from books and journals. In many cases the original sources of these offprints are now readily available within our main collections, but users may occasionally find the pamphlets useful, e.g.:

Egyptology pamphlets are held off site in our Stores. To request a pamphlet from Stores, please use the library catalogue. Please allow a 24 hour turn around period for the delivery of these items, which may be retrieved from the Science Library Assistance Desk.